[Jonathan]

Really though, those geese really love that ride.

[carowindsfreak13]

I've noticed that. There by the supports by the line is a nest of gesse with eggs.

[CarowindsThrills]

THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!!! The whole theme of the coaster seems out of place with the geese roaming around the coaster, but we must let nature live.

[MarkD]

Great picture. An assimilated Goose.
I see them out and about all the time and just hope one does not take off while I'm diving down. Hmmm, wonfer how good my reflex' are?

[Deja Vu Dude]

Hahaha, thats a great picture. The only thing that I'm afraid will happen is that a goose will fly right into the coaster, just like the incident that happened at Bush Gardens. The poor man riding Apollo's Chariet broke his nose because that bird flew right into the train.

[Jonathan]

Yeah that was Fabio. I don't really think it's an issue for this coaster, though, given the position of the train and the riders.

[Carowinds44]

That is a great picture, lol.

My friends and I were thinking about that too. It definitely wouldn't feel good to have a duck hit you in the face.

[KenB]

It does seem like the geese like that area even better now than before. I would've thought the noise would bother them, not to mention the 50mph train whizzing by every so often. Maybe it's not as bad, since as loud as BORG's antirollbacks are, they're nothing compared to the Sternwheeler's (RIP) whistle.

That goose pic made me think of the teddy bears I saw in the Top Gun gift shop. Anyone else see those?

They have BORG teddy bears! They have a little BORG suit and even the red eye thingy - I thought those were hilarious. Not sure if I'll get one since they're $12, but those are something you won't see at any other theme park this year I bet. They also have some new red and black BORG t-shirts in that shop, that say BORG Assimilator and have a bunch of silhouetted BORGs. Not sure if I like it better than the green BA shirts like the crew was wearing, but it's nice to see them getting plenty of merchandise for the ride. I haven't gone into the Paramount Plaza shops since opening weekend, may have to check out what they have in there.

One shirt that made me laugh was a "Get Loopy!" t-shirt that said Paramount's Carowinds...and had a drawing of a woodie with a loop. Either that's a generic shirt they're using at all the parks, OR we're becoming the dumping ground for the other Paramount park's problem child rides. You read it here first, "new" for 2006 at Carowinds - Son of BORG, the Carolinas' first looping wooden coaster

KenB

[Cephas]

They need to play a recording of a hawk and theme it into the Log Flume. That would scare away those ducks, for a while. They could also put in strobes on the borg sphere, they would look cool and they also scare off certain types of birds, I'm not sure about ducks though. Would alot of mist scare the ducks off too?

I could say something really demented about duck extermination right now but I'll hold off.

[KenB]

They're gooses, er, geese!

There is an occasional duck, but the majority of Carowinds waterfowl population consists of geese.

I just remembered a "Fabio" moment, although with something more along the lines of a swallow or a wren. My friend James and I were on Hurler in the front seat, coming around the turn that goes through the structure. Hovering over the track on James' side a bit further down the track is a small bird, right at head level. Both of us were of course thinking we didn't want to do the Fabio experience, even though it was a slower coaster and a smaller bird. I can't imagine that hitting a wren at 45mph is that much better than hitting a goose at 70.

We started yelling at him and waving our arms - so he proceeded to move a few feet and hover right in front of MY side of the train, at the same level. Great. Luckily he flew off before we got there, so there was no incident, but it we couldn't stop laughing about our "near Fabio" experience.

KenB

[Jonathan]

^ Actually, that just made me remember a time on Hurler when the train actually hit a bird... just the front of the car though, no people.

[Cephas]

They need to test rollercoasters for surviving bird impact, or at least consider it. They test trains going 100 mph. Why not test the hypers? they could at least put up fencing around the fastest parts of the rides.

I smell a lawsuit.

[Jonathan]

^ The thing is, it has never been a problem before. The only incident that I know of is the Fabio incident, which happened at an unfortunate time (right during a promo event). After that they did indeed put up netting around parts of the ride.

[swampfox43]

^ Actually, that just made me remember a time on Hurler when the train actually hit a bird... just the front of the car though, no people.

Ditto! same thing happened to me last year on Hurler. A pigeon was resting on the track on the turn just off the lift. I was in the front seat (as always). I wish I hadn't seen it but........splat!

Also reminds me of the squirrel that got hit by the Wild Mouse car at Busch Gardens VA. We watched it fall onto the concrete, still alive, limping and bleeding. The fine folks at BGW called the animal first aid dept. and they came and got it and took it away to operate. Never heard the fate of the little guy...

[montumax]

and they came and got it and took it away to operate. Never heard the fate of the little guy...

Probably stew....or something in the FestHaus.